On January 23, celebrated soprano Renée Fleming, whom opera aficionados call “the people’s diva,” will return to the Metropolitan Opera in one of her most cherished roles, as the title character in Antonin Dvorak’s “Rusalka,” where she will sing “Song to the Moon,” a signature aria that has developed a life of its own. Joining Fleming will be Piotr Beczala as the Prince and Dolora Zajick as Jezibaba. Yannick Nezet-Seguin will conduct.
The opera, which runs through February 15, was first performed in 1901 with a libretto written by Czech poet Jaroslav Kvapil, and draws from the work of writers Hans Christian Andersen and Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, as well as Slavic mythology and fairytales. The opera was not immediately popular; the first English-language production wasn’t staged until 1959 at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, outside London, and “Rusalka” didn’t become a standard repertory production until the 1980s.
In many ways, Dvorak’s opera and Fleming are forever intertwined. She sang “Song to the Moon” at her first appearance at the Met in 1988, which pushed her into the spotlight, and first performed the title role in 1990. Writing about a 2009 production at the Met, the New York Times’ Steve Smith called Fleming’s performance “refreshingly free of the overemphatic mannerisms that have crept into some of her other signature roles,” and said she sung with “tonal splendor and commendable ease.”
On February 2, Fleming will take a break from the opera to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl, where her beautiful voice will undoubtedly be appreciated by thousands of screaming lunatics.
